Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON A GOLDFINCH STARVED TO DEATH IN HIS CAGE, by WILLIAM COWPER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON A GOLDFINCH STARVED TO DEATH IN HIS CAGE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Time was when I was free as air
Last Line: Had been your prisoner still.
Subject(s): Goldfinches


TIME was when I was free as air,
The thistle's downy seed my fare,
My drink the morning dew;
I perched at will on every spray,
My form genteel, my plumage gay,
My strains for ever new.

But gaudy plumage, sprightly strain,
And form genteel were all in vain,
And of a transient date; [death,
For, caught and caged, and starved to
In dying sighs my little breath
Soon passed the wiry grate.

Thanks, gentle swain, for all my woes,
And thanks for this effectual close
And cure of every ill!
More cruelty could none express;
And I, if you had shown me less,
Had been your prisoner still.





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